Original subtitles

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

♪♪

Narrator: It's 2015.

A warm, summer day in lothian, Maryland,

where Jackie riggs is about to meet up with old friends.

Lothian is an area of farms and single-family homes,

uh, very rural.

Davis: Jackie wanted a new start.

She wanted a new place.

So she came down to Maryland to be with her friends.

There she is!

Narrator: Jackie met Ann and Anthony anastasi

one year earlier in Michigan, where they all used to live.

This is so nice.

Ann and Anthony have five children.

Well, it is about time.

They were all part of this motorcycle group.

That's how they met.

Oh!

Don't lift, Anthony!

He hurt his back. You can't imagine the pain.

It's okay. I'm feeling much better.

Come on, let me show you your room.

It's down in the basement, but we fixed it up for you.

Oh, I'm just happy to be here.

Knight: The anastasi children knew who she was.

Some of them referred to her as aunt Jackie.

♪♪

The happy reunion lasts for awhile,

but then the mood changes.

Three months later, the family is at war with their houseguest.

Tensions started to rise within the anastasi home.

You're supposed to help out around here!

Pull your weight!

There's a lot of stress in the home,

a lot of aggression, as well as fighting.

[Pounding on door] Anthony, let me in!

Anthony! Open the door!

[ Thump ]

♪♪

Narrator: The morning of October 5th

should be just another school day, but it isn't.

Mom.

- What? - I'm sick.

Ann got up in the morning and their 13-year-old, Sara,

said she wasn't feeling well and she actually stayed home.

You didn't wake me up! I'm starving!

Okay, okay, fine. Just go grab a pop-tart.

Ann got the other children to school and then ran errands.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Anthony!

She discovered Anthony lying dead in the home.

[ Sirens wailing ]

[Sobbing] Please! Please! Please!

Please! Please! Please!

Please! Please! Please!

Hurry, please!

My husband! - Right there.

Stay.

I'm gonna get the door.

[Sobbing] Please!

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

Narrator: The story of what happened here

is a dark tale of love, lust, and violence,

revealing a crime

that will haunt investigators for years to come.

Davis: This is one of those cases that's shocking to the soul.

It goes against everything that we, as a society, value

and we, as a society, believe in.

It's a peek into a... A different kind of evil

than we, as investigators, are used to dealing with.

[ Drumroll ] [ Gunshot ]

[ Sultry music plays ]

♪♪

[ Suspenseful music climbs ]

... Captions by vitac... www.Vitac.Com

captions paid for by discovery communications

police respond to the call about the man

who appears to be dead of a gunshot wound to the head.

- C'mere. - [Sobbing] Please! Please!

Please! - What's inside?

Stay right here. Stay right here.

Please! [Continues sobbing]

Ann was visibly upset.

She was crying, shaking,

and led the officers to the back bedroom.

[ Radio chatter ]

Got a pulse?

No.

There didn't appear to be any signs of struggle.

The body was laying there calmly with a single gunshot wound

and a .45-caliber handgun in close vicinity

to the hand of the deceased body,

which you would typically find on a suicide scene.

Mr. anastasi did not have an exit wound.

Narrator: Police search the rest of the house,

to make sure it's safe,

and find another shocking scene.

Soon as we stepped down onto the landing

of the basement floor, you could see, immediately,

blood on the walls, uh, blood on the floor.

Oh, man, rob!

[ Sinister music plays ] [ Radio chatter ]

Fast.

- Oh, my god. - Call it in.

They see Jackie lying in a huge pool of her own blood,

having sustained multiple stab wounds

about her body, head, and neck.

[ Knocking ]

[ Sobbing ]

Miss, can you come out here for a second?

Narrator: Officers don't know the identity of the second victim.

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

Who's the girl in the basement?

That's... Jackie is our... That's our tenant.

Is she okay? What happened?

Come with me. Let me talk to you.

What happened?! What happened?

I'll talk to you in a few minutes.

When officers discovered Jackie dead in the basement

and told Ann about it, Ann was very surprised.

She said that she had not seen her today

and didn't know if she was home.

[ Siren wailing ]

- Hey. - What's going on here?

There's a male in the bedroom

with one gunshot wound and there's

a female downstairs, multiple stab wounds.

Let's go upstairs, first.

Freddy, nobody else comes in,

until the crime scene gets processed.

Okay. [ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

♪♪

Looks like a single shot to the right temple.

Yeah, look at his body position.

Let's go talk to the mother.

♪♪

I can't believe it.

♪♪

You know, he was... He was hurting.

He hurt his back in Michigan.

The injuries he had sustained to his back,

that resulted in multiple back surgeries,

had not healed properly.

He was constantly in pain.

That's... that's why we moved down here.

Ann had, I believe, grown up in Montgomery county, Maryland.

Anthony's family was still here in Anne arundel county.

He had exhausted most of his disability benefits

and was essentially unemployed.

Lotta stuff.

We knew her up in Michigan.

She, uh, liked to ride motorcycles.

So did we.

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

- You ride? - Yeah.

Just took the 22 all the way from Ann arbor.

- Ogh! God, I love that stretch. - Mm-hmm.

Apparently, both, uh, the husband, wife, and Jackie

were, uh, motorcyclists, and so they had this in common.

- You got your own bike? - Yeah.

Had my own biker, but, uh,

just got rid of him, the dog.

They're all dogs.

They asked Jackie, someone who they both really cared about,

to come and live with them,

with their children, in their home in lothian.

The little bit of rent money

that Jackie was able to give them helped the family,

so it was a win/win, having Jackie movie in with them.

And, Anthony, he never got angry at Jackie?

Last night, he did.

The night prior, Anthony and Jackie had been involved

in a verbal altercation in the basement.

Anthony came back upstairs,

told her to stay out of the bedroom, lock the doors.

The information she provided lended itself to the notion

of this being a murder-suicide.

Anthony's been depressed for so long.

It-it's not the first time he threatened to kill himself.

Ann said that she wouldn't have been surprised

if her husband killed himself,

but she would've been very surprised, had he killed Jackie.

Listen, we're gonna have to swab your hands.

For what?

- Gunshot residue. - Go ahead.

Got nothin' to hide.

Get it.

Poole: Anytime we have a shooting incident,

we take gunshot residue, or gsr, testing

from the parties on-scene.

Ann anastasi, as well as her teenage daughter Sara,

were both, uh, gsr-tested.

The clothes that she was wearing were also taken from her,

because she indicated those were the same clothes

she had had on from the prior day,

so that the clothes could also be tested for gunshot residue.

Narrator: While techs continue gathering evidence,

detectives take a closer look at the crime scenes.

Davis: There was no forced entry to the home.

There was no damage to anything, other than the damage

to Jackie's bedroom, from her struggle.

Let's head back upstairs, wait for CSI.

That poor girl.

♪♪

Narrator: Crime scene techs arrive to process the rooms

where Anthony and Jackie died.

The crime scene where jacqueline riggs was found

was essentially as diametrically opposed to the crime scene

where Anthony was found as you could be.

Anthony was found lying in the bed

with a single gunshot wound to the head,

kind of a very sterile environment.

Jackie was found lying on the floor

of the makeshift basement bedroom,

uh, with multiple, multiple stabbing

and cutting injuries, blood all over the place,

the bedclothes all in disarray.

Just a very violent, violent crime scene,

where she was discovered.

It's very common for the perpetrator, or the offender,

to have cut themselves while they're cutting their victim.

Narrator: If police are lucky, they may find the killer's DNA

[ camera shutter clicks ] Mixed with the victim's.

The team also takes blood samples from Anthony's bedroom.

The scene will take hours to process,

but detectives waste no time

trying to figure out what happened here.

So, we thinkin' murder-suicide?

I don't know.

It's too neat.

Maybe the neighbors heard something.

♪♪

Hey, how you doing, sir? We're detectives

from the Anne arundel county police department.

We're wondering if you heard anything

or saw anything unusual.

- What time? - Anytime after 10:00.

I was in bed at 9:00.

I heard nothing.

Thank you.

- Sure. - Have a good day.

Good luck.

Those people are always loud.

Loud music. Yelling, screaming kids.

What about last night?

See anything unusual, say, after... 10:00?

My boyfriend was over [Chuckle] last night.

We were making our own noise.

[ Birds chirping ]

Everybody in that neighborhood was shocked and horrified

to learn of what had happened in the anastasi residence.

Murders are not something that happens

in that particular part of the county,

so it really, uh, was quite a wake-up call.

Can you tell us what you were doing last night?

I fell asleep, watching television

and I woke up, realized I hadn't taken the dog out,

so, I'm goin' to take the dog out for a walk.

Do you recall what time that was?

It was really late, after midnight.

[ Crickets chirping ]

I was walking towards a guy on a motorcycle,

staring at the anastasi house.

As I was walking towards him,

he just sped right off.

[ Engine starts ]

♪♪

- I don't know what... - Did you get a good look at him?

No. It was dark and he had a helmet on.

You remember anything else about him at all?

No. He just sped. Off.

There are some outlaw motorcycle gangs in that area.

It was certainly yet another angle,

as investigators, we had to pursue.

It was certainly yet another angle,

[ gunshot ]

[ Suspenseful flourish plays ]

[ Bird caws ]

Narrator: In lothian, Maryland,

it's been a long day, processing the crime scene,

removing two dead bodies from the anastasi family home.

Now, detectives wanna check

on how Ann and her five children are coping.

Mom?

Oh. Detectives, hello.

♪♪

I see you've added one more to the family.

Oh. This is Gabriel.

He's Sara's boyfriend.

When we see Ann, she was with her five children

and another child, um, Gabriel struss.

Ann makes a comment that he's part of the family.

Can we talk to you in private for a second?

[ Ring ] Yeah. Of course.

[ Ring ]

Are you okay, staying here with your kids?

It is a murder scene.

Where the hell else am I gonna go?

I got no money.

Listen, one of your neighbors saw a guy

on a motorcycle, watching your house.

So?

What does that have to do with Anthony

killing himself and that poor girl?

Both you guys rode bikes.

Is anyone angry with your family?

No.

I-I don't get what you're getting here.

How about Jackie?

Oh, god.

What?

Maybe. Maybe it was him.

Who? Who?

Jackie had a... A biker guy back in Michigan.

Um, she was halfway living with him,

but he got really possessive.

That's why she came down here. She was scared of him.

She... She disappeared.

Said he'd never find her here.

This fella have a name?

I don't remember, but I have people in Michigan

I can still ask.

If you can, that'd be great.

Okay. Well, um,

unless you plan to stay for dinner,

I need to get back to it.

We'll be in touch.

♪♪

Narrator: The next day,

autopsies are performed on both of the victims.

So, Jackie riggs and Anthony anastasi.

Well, Jackie?

Butchered.

42 knife wounds.

20 stabs, 22 slices.

- Righty or lefty? - Couldn't tell.

She, in fact, had defensive wounds about her arms and hands,

which indicated that she was awake and alive

and fighting her assailant during the time of the crime.

When we see that many cut wounds, that says to us

that Jackie riggs was fighting for her life for a long time.

And Anthony?

A single bullet to the head,

entry above the right ear.

Think it was self-inflicted?

Can't tell.

You know the caliber?

I sent it off to the lab last night.

We should have an answer today.

♪♪

Narrator: Within hours, the police lab sends its report

on the bullet that killed Anthony.

[ Knock-knock ]

- This just came in. - I'll take it.

Thank you.

From the lab...

What?

Caliber of the handgun that was laying

by Anthony in the bed?

.45-caliber.

Guess what caliber the bullet is

they found in Anthony's brain?

What?

.380.

What? That doesn't make sense. Let me see.

They find out, from the m.E.'S report,

Anthony has one .380-caliber bullet wound

to his right temple.

The gun found alongside of him was a .45.

Forget the, uh, murder-suicide.

You're lookin' at a double homicide.

Unless you can fire a .38-caliber bullet

with a .45-caliber gun.

Who would know?

Best in the biz. I have a buddy who works

in ballistics down at the FBI.

♪♪

Narrator: FBI headquarters in Washington, DC

is just an hour away.

- Hi. - Hi, Ron. Thanks for seeing us.

Okay.

We were discussing with him the possibility that

a .380 round could've been fired through a .45-caliber handgun.

Well, it's conceivable, but highly unlikely,

to fire a .380 from a .45-caliber.

If it happened, even if it's

"hitting the lottery" likely,

how would it go down?

Well, the bullet would fire off once,

but the shell casing would jam the gun thereafter.

So, possible, but not likely.

He said he'd have to look into it a little further.

We, as investigators, asked him

if he could put a rush on that for us

because this, for us, was a huge question

at this stage in the investigation.

So, where does this leave us?

Up in the air.

♪♪

Narrator: Following procedure, detectives move on,

to begin researching their victims.

We start doing backgrounds investigations

on everybody in the home.

Ann's background was completely clean.

All right, so, Anthony has a dui.

Other than that, he's clean.

Nothing violent and nothing that would even raise any red flags.

What about Jackie?

She pops up on a III.

For what?

Drunken bar fight.

With who, another woman?

No, um, some guy named Larry CONKLIN.

Lansing, Michigan, address.

Really?

What they theorize, in part, is

that Jackie had a jealous boyfriend

who belonged to the motorcycle group with them.

We definitely looked into their history

and what, exactly, was their involvement

within motorcycle-club activity.

What are you thinking?

I'm thinking, for a certain biker,

Jackie riggs is a hard girl to forget.

So, Jackie moves in,

but there's trouble from the start.

[ Rewinding squeakily ]

[ Door closes ]

Ugh!

Workin' hard?

♪♪

- I'm in here! - What are you doin'?

- What's it look like?! - Where's your phone?

I'm goin' to the bathroom, you idiot.

Get outta here! - Who you been textin'?!

This biker is the worst combination

of jealousy and paranoia.

Jesus, what's your problem?!

[ Gasping ]

I own you.

She know she's gotta get outta there, but,

it can't just be local.

It's gotta be far away.

♪♪

Jackie?

♪♪

Jackie?

♪♪

Jackie!

It takes months, but he tracks her down.

That's why she's stabbed so many times.

It's personal.

[ Crickets chirping ]

♪♪

[ Fast-forwarding squeakily ]

As far as Anthony goes,

he's the only man in the house,

the only threat worth shooting.

But what about the gun?

.380 bullet versus

the .45 that was found on the bed?

Maybe he had both.

Maybe it was biker boy's way of saying

the laugh's on us.

Yeah, we're gonna need more than just Ann Marie

makin' some phone calls.

Yeah, I got a cop friend in Lansing, Dale pickney.

I'll call him now.

Narrator: While cops run down the whereabouts

of Jackie's ex Larry CONKLIN,

word of the grisly double murder begins to spread.

Everybody knows each other in lothian.

It's a small, one-horse town.

It's been most famous for its chesapeake crabs

and then, suddenly, there's this double murder there.

There was a bit of panic, so, for us, time is imperative.

We have to get out in front of this investigation,

as soon as possible.

- Hey, detectives! The usual? - Good morning, Mildred.

- Morning. - Yes, please.

- Yeah. Thank you. - I'll put on some coffee.

So, my friend went to CONKLIN's place of work

and they said he's in Vegas.

You know, we can probably check

the passenger manifest, make sure he was

on that flight. - Yeah, maybe he detoured at DC.

Horrible about that old man and that young girl.

Yeah, it was awful.

You know, they were in here,

not too long ago. - Yeah?

Couldn't keep their hands off each other.

- [Laughing] - Mmm-mmm-mmm!

[ Laughter ]

Can I take your order, please?

She was shocked when she read that Anthony was married

because he and Jackie were commonly in that diner.

There was a lot of touching and cuddling

and it definitely appeared that they were a couple.

It was disgusting.

I mean, he was old enough to be her father.

Are you telling me that Anthony anastasi

and Jackie riggs were here?

You knew them?

In that booth, over there.

I mean, there were children in here!

Are you sure it was them?

Do I look like an idiot?

[ Chuckle ]

Let me put your order in.

[ Spooky music plays ]

This information was very important to investigators.

Love, lust, sex, hate, greed,

are all huge motives, when it comes to murder.

Love, lust, sex, hate, greed,

[ gunshot ]

[ Suspenseful flourish plays ]

♪♪

Narrator: Three days after the deaths

of Jackie riggs and Anthony anastasi,

detectives have just learned

that the two victims were romantically involved.

Could the answer to this mystery be a crime of passion?

They start to think maybe there was a lover's quarrel

because, when you see that many knife wounds on somebody,

you know it's a crime of passion.

So, what do you make of this?

What do you think happened?

I don't know. If Mildred's telling the truth, then,

it's possibly a lover's quarrel.

[ Rewinding squeakily ]

[ Laughter ]

Now, this father of five has plenty of libido,

regardless of his bad-back issue.

Let's face it. It's a young girl in her 20s.

He's old enough to be her father.

So, when she finds someone closer to her own age,

it's more natural for her.

♪♪

- Where you headed? - Into town.

I'm headin' to town, to a bar.

Handshake, you get a ride.

♪♪

It doesn't take Anthony long to figure out the score.

♪♪

Jackie!

Jackie?

[ Crickets chirping ]

[ Knocking ]

♪♪

C'mere.

♪♪

So, now he feels old.

Feels like he's been two-timed.

♪♪

[ Electronica plays ]

You whore!

Aaaaa-aah!

It's the classic crime of passion.

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

♪♪

Then, can't live with the guilt,

doesn't wanna face a murder rap,

so, he offs himself.

♪♪

[ Fast-forwarding squeakily ]

That's what I think happened.

Okay. Let's go with that angle.

They can believe that maybe Anthony

stabbed Jackie in a lover's quarrel,

that, when he went back into his bedroom,

he couldn't deal with the fact that he killed her

and he shot himself in the head.

Is this a double murder or is this a murder-suicide?

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

Narrator: Detectives get word back from the FBI,

confirming that the bullet found in Anthony's skull was not fired

from the .45-caliber gun found at the scene.

The .380 would just not fire out of that .45-caliber weapon.

The calibers were just too different for that to work.

The gun that was found on the scene

was not the gun that killed him.

We, in fact, were missing a gun.

Narrator: They're not just missing the gun.

They're missing the killer.

Who shot Anthony?

And did the same person stab Jackie?

Detectives hope that the results of blood testing

[ beeping ] Will answer these questions.

[Knocking] This just came from the lab.

Thank you.

No one else's blood was found

in Anthony's bedroom.

And no one else's blood was found

in the basement with Jackie.

How can that be?

It's very common when, in a stabbing

or cutting-type injury, that the attacker would wind up

suffering from what's called slippage.

There's a lot of blood and that can cause your hand

to slide over the handle of the weapon,

down to the actual blade.

If you think about it, how easy it is to cut your finger

when you're slicing an apple or cutting your steak,

it's a lot easier to cut yourself

when somebody's fighting against you,

and Jackie was fighting hard.

The blood that was downstairs

all came back to the blood of jacqueline riggs.

I know. It doesn't make sense.

[ Ring ]

Detectives.

Narrator: Just as investigators

are growing desperate for a new lead,

they get lucky. - Okay.

Yeah, what's your address?

All right, we'll see you in a bit.

Thank you.

A woman who knows the anastasis well

wants to talk to us.

Let's go.

[ Sigh ]

Thanks for coming so soon.

I have two kids.

They're both in the same class

as the anastasis' middle ones.

They were telling me that Anthony

was just horrible to Ann.

She spoke with her children,

who advised that Anthony was extremely abusive to Ann,

um, physically abusive, verbally abusive.

Alice said that she felt the need

to come forward, learning this information,

because she's worried about the children in the home.

I've known them for so many years

and I care about them very much!

- I'm sure you do. - Thank you for calling us.

We know how hard it can be.

- Thank you. - Yeah.

♪♪

Narrator: Now, police need Ann to confirm the tip.

We've heard that Anthony was abusive to you.

No. No! No.

You've got it wrong. No.

Frankly, there's no shame in telling us.

He can't hurt you anymore.

We don't wanna have to ask your kids.

No.

He was

cruel.

The last several years had been notable

for significant incidents of domestic violence

that Anthony had inflicted upon her.

- Anthony, no, please. - I want you out!

Anthony, it's freezing outside!

- Out! Get out! - Please! Come on, now,

stop, Anthony, stop! - Now, you stay out here.

[Sobbing] Anthony.

Incidents, including locking her out of the house.

Anthony, no! No!

[Sobbing] No! Let me in.

And other beatings and physical violence.

On several occasions, she said that she tried to leave him

and tried to seek a better life for herself, uh,

and he would make threats that he would have a biker gang

come and kill her or... Or kidnap her.

So, did you know

that Anthony was sleeping with Jackie?

We, uh...

We both slept with Jackie.

That girl saved our marriage.

This love triangle, this three-way relationship

actually started when they were all in Michigan.

[Laughing] He pops out of second gear

and he turns a corner and his butt goes flyin'.

He can't even do it and he's straight.

Hey, hey, what the hell?

[ Laughter ]

Let me have what they're drinkin', times two.

Oh, god, here we go.

[ Laughter ] Oh, no.

Their marriage had grown kind of stale and boring, um,

and Jackie's youth had brought new spice to their relationship.

[ Laughter ]

Poole: All three of them were romantic.

They would, uh, share a bed under the same roof

and, at the time, she was all for it

and a willing participant.

But, at some point, Ann had not chosen

to continue that part of the relationship.

They had a falling out,

but Jackie continued her relationship with Anthony.

Narrator: When the family leaves Michigan,

Ann hopes the breakup is permanent,

but it doesn't last.

Part of the reason they returned to Maryland was

because she felt like coming back to Maryland for work,

with her husband and her family and her children,

was a fresh start for them.

When Mr. anastasi decided that he wanted

to introduce jacqueline back into the relationship,

miss anastasi revealed to us, as investigators,

that that was not her first choice.

Knight: Jackie was living in the home, essentially,

as Anthony's mistress, at that time.

[ Spooky music plays ] So, when Jackie came back,

tensions started to rise, uh, within the anastasi home.

[ Muttering ]

There's a lot of intense emotion involved,

so this, now, puts the police in a whole nother mindset.

There's a lot of intense emotion involved,

[ gunshot ]

[ Suspenseful flourish plays ]

♪♪

Narrator: Detectives are processing the shocking information

that Ann and Anthony anastasi

were in a love triangle with 25-year-old Jackie riggs.

We both slept with Jackie.

Ann revealed to us that she, her husband,

and jacqueline riggs were actually engaged

in a three-way relationship.

Ann had not chosen to continue that part of the relationship.

However, Anthony had chosen to continue.

Ann was surprisingly stoic about that fact.

That was not her first choice,

however, she honored her husband's wishes.

♪♪

Well, that's one way to spice up a marriage.

Call the tabloids,

our small town will never be the same.

So, what now?

Let's go back and see if there's

a domestic-violence report,

figure out our next move.

♪♪

Narrator: Back at the station, detectives check their records.

All right, thank you.

[ Sigh ]

So, we have no history

of domestic violence reported by Ann Marie.

We, again, went back and ran some background checks,

just to see if there was any prior reported domestic abuse

or child-abuse incidents.

Uh, we found nothing.

Now, this could mean one of two things.

One, he was never abusive and that story goes nowhere;

or, two, a lot of domestic-violence victims

[ suspenseful flourish plays ] Don't report it,

because of financial reasons or they're scared.

What's the latest on CONKLIN?

Yeah, so far, none of the car-rental agencies

have reported renting anything

to a Larry CONKLIN in Vegas.

Maybe he borrowed a friend's car.

Or a motorcycle?

Yeah, keep workin' on it.

[ Knock-knock ] Cellphone records.

I'll take it.

Thanks.

Narrator: What the phone records reveal

is a fresh lead detectives never saw coming.

Oh, my god!

Can I call you back, please?

You're not gonna believe this.

When the phone records came back,

they revealed text messages that was a huge eye-opener.

We saw miss Ann anastasi;

her teenage daughter; And a third party,

Gabriel struss, who was the alleged boyfriend

of the daughter, all text-messaging together.

♪♪

Narrator: Detectives haven't yet spoken to Gabriel

and head over to the high school he attends.

We went to get Gabriel struss as soon as possible.

[Knocking] Miss Leeds, uh,

there are two detectives here.

Sorry to disturb you, but we need to see a Gabriel struss.

Uh, but first, we'd like for you

to tell us what you know about Gabriel.

John, thank you.

Please, have a seat.

Thank you.

So,

what can you tell us about Gabriel?

Well...

Troubled.

His mother and father aren't exactly upstanding citizens,

more like people you'd be familiar with.

He came from a family of drug addicts and hardened criminals.

Gabriel himself was an abused and neglected child.

I think Gabriel lives with his grandmother now.

Mm-hmm.

What, exactly, do you need him for?

♪♪

Narrator: After school lets out,

Gabriel agrees to speak with detectives at the station.

♪♪

Can we get you anything, a soda, some water?

No. It's okay.

So,

how long have you known the anastasis?

I don't know. Over a year, maybe two.

Hey. We're gonna go listen to some music.

Okay.

Hey, uh, Gabriel.

Yes, ma'am?

The bruise under your eye.

What happened?

I-I tripped and fell.

Ann promised him a family.

She promised him a home.

She promised him to be loved.

♪♪

Ann, what's the matter?

[Sobbing] Nothing.

Who did this?!

Nobody. Nobody. Who?

Is that why you killed Anthony and Jackie?

I didn't do nothing.

Mnh-mnh. You did plenty.

Listen,

we know that it wasn't just you.

I didn't do nothing.

Initially, Gabriel denied any type of involvement.

Show him the text messages.

♪♪

There were messages between Ann;

the teenage daughter Sara,

and Gabriel struss,

in detail,

plotting to kill

Anthony and Jackie.

They even said, and went so far as to think ahead,

that, if anyone were to be caught for this crime,

they would place the blame on the teenage daughter,

because she would be the one that was a juvenile

and would not have a long prison sentence.

Okay, I-it was Ann.

When the text messages were specifically read back to him,

he then gave up.

He came clean and, uh, began to confess the details.

He identified Ann

as the mastermind behind the murder plot.

She wanted it done. She needed it done.

And then, my girlfriend,

she had her own reasons.

His girlfriend, she had revealed to him that

she was living, and her mother,

both were living in an abusive home,

an abusive relationship,

and, uh, painted a picture of a monster.

He felt like he was saving the anastasi family from the abuse

that Anthony had wreaked on this family for years.

Write everything down, from the beginning.

Everything.

I think that he felt he was somewhat of a hero

for the anastasi women.

Narrator: It all comes to a crisis point

when 13-year-old Sara saw something she couldn't accept.

She overheard her father and jacqueline riggs

talking about getting pregnant

and that, in fact, she had come across a pregnancy test.

[ Eerie music plays ] Sara was very close to her daddy

and she didn't want him to have another child.

So, when Sara found a pregnancy test

in Jackie's basement bathroom, that's when she lost it.

♪♪

Narrator: Detectives pick up Ann and Sara for questioning.

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

Ann Marie.

We're gonna talk to your daughter, first.

♪♪

The Sara they talked to before was young and scared and...

And terrified.

This Sara was cold and calculating and stoic.

♪♪

So, your boyfriend Gabriel signed a full confession.

Why?!

Because we had your texts, your mom's texts, and Gabriel's.

All the plotting,

all the scheming, to kill your dad and Jackie.

Read 'em. It's all spelled out.

Literally.

They had it comin'!

Why?

'Cause they were doing it.

And she was pregnant!

No, we got the autopsy back

and Jackie wasn't pregnant.

Well, she wanted to be!

She deserved it!

She blamed jacqueline,

saying that she overheard her father and jacqueline riggs

talking about getting pregnant and that, in fact,

she had come across a pregnancy test.

Narrator: With two confessions now in hand,

it's time to see what Ann has to say.

Ann Marie.

As you can see, we have written confessions

from Gabriel and your daughter.

Miss anastasi, presented with all of the facts,

still completely denies her involvement in the case.

She pins the entire incident on Gabriel struss

and calls him delusional, drug-addicted,

says he comes from a bad background.

And now it's time for you to come clean.

Gabriel's crazy. The kid's on drugs.

Just look at his whole family.

She says that, basically, Gabriel is a liar.

They're completely screwed up.

You have to consider the source on this.

And Sara? She's just... In love.

She's crazy. She's a teenager!

What do you expect? Of course,

they're gonna confess to you guys.

Yeah. These texts don't lie.

[ Spooky music plays ] This wasn't me.

Uh, this wasn't me.

Somebody got ahold of my phone!

I didn't do this!

There were seven family members in the home

at the time of the murder,

so they needed to get to the bottom of what had happened.

At the time of the murder,

[ gunshot ]

[ Suspenseful flourish plays ]

[ Sinister music plays ]

Narrator: A week after the murders

of Jackie riggs and Anthony anastasi,

detectives are unraveling a disturbing plot.

There had been an orchestrated plan in place

to have Mr. struss come over to the anastasi home

the night of the incident

and commit the murder of miss riggs.

Both Sara and Gabriel accepted responsibility

for their involvement.

Ann did not. [ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

This wasn't me. Somebody got ahold of my phone.

I didn't do this!

Ann anastasi maintained that she was the victim

throughout this incident.

She painted a picture of

a very abusive relationship between she and her husband.

Narrator: But then, the last piece of evidence falls into place.

Ann anastasi, as well as her teenage daughter Sara,

came back positive for gsr residue.

They were somewhere within close proximity

of Mr. anastasi when he was shot.

Narrator: Just 10 days after the murders,

detectives have what they need to start making arrests.

We charge all three parties

with two counts of first-degree murder.

Narrator: Ann, Sara, and Gabriel are taken into custody.

♪♪

As prosecutors prepare for the trial,

Ann makes several phone calls from prison.

Ann anastasi maintained her innocence in this case,

until the day that she was confronted

with recorded telephone calls indicating that, essentially,

Jackie had gotten what she deserved

for moving into her home life and wrecking her marriage.

Narrator: When these calls are played for the court,

Ann avoids a trial by entering an alford plea.

An alford plea enables a defendant to plead guilty,

but say, "I am not admitting that I committed this crime,

but I am saying that the state has sufficient evidence

that, if that was presented to a judge or a jury,

I would be found guilty on the basis of that evidence."

An alford plea basically carries the same weight

as a guilty plea.

Will the defendant please rise.

♪♪

Narrator: The judge doesn't buy Ann's defense

that she was an abused wife.

Who enlists two innocent teenagers

to kill their spouse and his mistress?

Ann Marie anastasi,

you did that.

You brainwashed them both.

Telling your daughter that her father,

Anthony, would abandon you,

all for a child that really didn't even exist.

[ Rewinding squeakily ]

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

She's pregnant.

Of course she is.

And, once she has the baby, she'll take everything.

Maybe not.

Gabriel.

Our family,

your family, is under attack.

We need a hero.

We need someone to be a man

and do what's necessary to save this family.

♪♪

Are you the hero, Gabriel?

Can you save us?

You preyed on Gabriel, playin' the abuse card,

knowin' he was abused!

♪♪

You gave Gabriel the knife.

Jackie: Aaaaaaaaah!

[ Ominous chord strikes ]

♪♪

You shot Anthony yourself.

♪♪

[ Creaking ]

♪♪

♪♪

[ Gunshot ] Aah!

[ Crying out ]

[Muffled] You shot him! You shot him! Oh!

Calm down. Take it!

Take it! Go!

♪♪

[Sobbing] Please! Please! Please!

Please! Please! Please!

Please! Please! Please! Help me!

And you played the innocent victim

and discovered the body.

[ Fast-forwarding squeakily ]

Ann Marie, besides murdering young Jackie riggs

and your husband, Anthony,

in the process, you were able to destroy

two young, innocent lives.

You deserve to spend the rest of your life behind bars.

He felt she corrupted two young adult minds

and destroyed several lives,

in addition to the two that she murdered.

I sentence you to 60 years in the state penitentiary.

Court is adjourned. [ Spectators murmuring ]

In all likelihood,

Ann will not leave prison under her own power.

Narrator: Gabriel pleads guilty and is also given a harsh sentence,

despite his confession and remorse.

Will the defendant please rise.

Your attorneys advise me

that you wish to plead guilty

to two counts of first-degree murder

and two counts of conspiracy

to commit murder in the first degree.

Is that what you wish to do?

Yes.

Gabriel struss was sentenced to 60 years in prison.

Miss anastasi,

you wish to enter a plea of guilty

to the two charges, first-degree murder,

one count accessory after the fact.

Is that what you wish to do?

Yes.

Narrator: Sara may be the only one of the three

who gets a second chance.

She is in the custody of the department of juvenile services

and, at a maximum, she will be released at age 21.

We hope that she can be reformed

and return to society as a productive member.

However, her ability to manipulate,

it's chilling for us, as investigators.

Narrator: Detectives are still haunted by Ann and Sara's behavior

in the hours following the murders.

Ann was capable of going along her life,

with two dead bodies in her house,

for almost 12 hours.

That's not normal.

That's not typical behavior.

That would've taken an extreme amount of self-discipline,

an extreme amount of calm,

that many normal people, who feel remorse and guilt,

would not have been able to do.

Narrator: In the end, four children lost both parents and a sister.

The four remaining anastasi children

are currently living with a grandparent.

They are all thriving and doing very well,

so we're very happy for those children.

Narrator: Murder is a crime with a ripple effect of pain

that reaches far beyond its victims.

The number of lives that are significantly damaged

or destroyed by these actions by Ann anastasi

[ melancholy tune plays ] Is just gut-wrenching.

Jacqueline riggs was in her early 20s

and, by all accounts, was just a wonderful soul

and a great human being.

Gabriel was kind of a... A lost soul

and found solace in the anastasi family,

which is something that he had never had

and something that he so desperately craved,

that he would literally kill for.